Tie Cleaning and Storage

The best way to clean your silk tie is by preventing stains in first place. Most stains happen during dinner - think about ties dangling in soup for example. Next time you are going to a business dinner that requires suit and tie tug your tie in between two shirt buttons. If you feel uncomfortable to do so, then wearing a napkin might be a more elegant stain prevention technique.

No matter how careful you are, sooner or later even the most experienced necktie aficionado will get his beloved silk tie dirty. When this happens, make sure to get on the spot right away. Start by removing larger chunks of dirt – the back of a knife or a spoon works excellent. Then take a white linen napkin and dip it into some cold water (cold water prevents the stain to further penetrating the fabric). Then, take the napkin and carefully dap it onto the spot. Don’t rub it in, but try to remove the stain by carefully pushing down with the napkin between your thumb and the spot.

In case this doesn’t help, then try the same method again, but instead of using water, use some rubbing alcohol. Before you do this, try it on the back to the tie first to ensure that the alcohol is not damaging or fading the dye on the silk.

Your last resort is a trip to a cleaner. Before dropping your tie off, make sure that your cleaner has experience in not just cleaning silk, but more importantly neckties. Neckties cannot be pressed since this damages the inlay of the tie. If this happens the tie won’t tie right and won’t drape the way it used to – it just won’t look right. To properly clean the tie, the tie needs to be opened first, then treated, and finally sown back together.